Here’s my curation of the day’s top news, analysis, commentary, charts and cartoons from around Aotearoa and elsewhere about our political economy around housing, climate and poverty. This is only published in full for paying subscribers. Briefly, in summary:
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand is set to hike the Official Cash Rate by 25 basis points to 2.5% at 2pm this afternoon, tightening monetary policy for the first time in more than three years. It faces strong opposition from some economists, including Kiwibank’s Jarrod Kerr1.
In my view, a hike would be a mistake when 12.9% of the workforce is under-utilised and youth unemployment is at a 30-year high of 14.4%. That includes 20.3% of women in my daughter’s age group of 20-24 being not in Education, Employment or Training (NEET) in the March quarter, up from 18.4% in the December quarter. That doesn’t feel like full employment generating inflation.
The Government rewrote the fast-track law after mining companies asked for changes, Andrea Vance reports this morning for The Post-$2.
In another sign Aotearoa’s economy is captured, the Commerce Commission has decided not to proceed with tougher regulations on the supermarkets duopoly3.
Local Government and Climate Minister Simon Watts has told4 Councils to review their climate spending to ensure it is “proportionate, evidence-based, and represent value for money,” adding: “The Government is increasingly concerned that some climate-related planning and investment decisions may be relying on high-end emissions scenarios in a way that results in unnecessary costs being imposed on ratepayers, businesses, and communities.” Mandy Te has the report via Interest5.
Hundreds of workers in the Hawkes Bay face losing their jobs after the region’s biggest apple grower and exporter was put into liquidation, BusinessDesk-$6 reports this morning.
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